Harmony - Summoning the Past

HARMONY - Summoning the Past (KONQUEROR Records CD 2004)

"Summoning the Past" is a compilation with some unreleased songs of the Swedish band called Harmony. I have to admit that I bought this CD without hearing any music from Harmony, but I knew that later they changed the name for Maze of Torment, which is a band I quite like to listen to. I also told myself that any Swedish death metal from the early 90's is always nice to listen to and must be good. Well, Harmony were mediocre only, to say the best about them, but who cares... it's another piece of the Swedish death metal history that I learned. 

I honestly don't know Harmony demos, so I am not sure what the beginnings of this band were like, but I can say that these songs, which are compiled for "Summoning the Past" are not so much impressive. They come from three different recording sessions, all from 1994, but one took place in Unisound Studio and the other two in Underground Studio. So, we have six songs here. But the music is just mediocre quality melodic death metal, slightly alike to early Dissection. And it is nothing special. I am actually happy that this is only 25 minutes of music, because more would probably bore me to death. Harmony sounds dull, their riffs sound lazy and uninspiring. I miss some aggression and spark, which would set powerful fire on the speakers. Maybe it's a matter of the production or maybe it's because how Harmony was blending death metal with some thrashing and melodic parts... Whatever the reason, "Summoning the Past" is far from the best recordings of the old era. 

It's not terrible, they have some good riffs... My favourite song is "Mountains of Frost", as this song is pretty harsh and aggressive, with a lot of similarities to the early Dissection, which is cool. Then "Duke of Grief - Part I/II" are not bad also, although the production is not so good. All in all, it can seem like a decent effort, but I just cannot convince myself fully that Harmony music was so interesting. Maze of Torment's "The Force" which came out a couple of years later is much, much better in my opinion. 

Standout track: "Mountains of Frost" 

Final rate: 65/100